Melon-carrier



(No Model.)

f M. J. WARD. MELON CARRIER.

Patented Deo. 12, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

MARZY J. WARD, OF UNADlLLA, NEW YORKa` MELON-CARRIER.

A SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,456, dated December 12, 1893. p v Application filed March 2, 1893. Serial No. 464.460. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARZY J. WARD, of Unadilla, in the county of Otsego and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Melon-Carriers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part f this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in melon carrying-devices which are composed of a wire adapted to be thrust through a melon and provided with a handle and means for supporting the melon on the wire, and the invention consists of a melon-carrier having its parts formed and arranged and having the part on which the melon rests adapted to be secured to the wire, substantially as is herein described, shown and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the wire with the handle secured thereto, and of the part on which the melon rests. Fig. 2 shows the carrier applied to a melon; and Fig. 3 isa view of the lower end of the carrier, as it appears when in use.

Similar reference numerals designate like parts in the different views.

This device is an improvement particularly on one of a similar character, which is described in my pending application, Serial No. 446,387, and which comprises a wire bent upon itself near one end, a disk or plate which is held on the wire between the bent part and the melon, and a handle adapted to be attached to the wire after it has been thrust through the melon, by passing the wire through the handle and then bending it around itself under the handle. That device is also provided with a flanged sleeve to prevent the wire from wearing a large hole in the upper side of the melon when it is being carried. The improved device renders such a sleeve unnecessary, and is in other respects more convenient to use, and to handle before it is put into use, than is the melon-carrier described in the application above mentioned.

The three parts of which this melon-carrier is composed are the wire 1, the button 2 and the handle 3. The wire is soft enough to en` able it to be easily bent by the fingers, and is coated with tin so that the melon is not liable to be injured by it on the inside. The

wire is passed through a hole in the middle of the handle 3, and is bent at a right angle at 10, and again at 11, and at 12 it is bent back toward the main part of the wire around which it is twisted in the forni of a spiral 13. The bends 10,11 and 12 are vmade in such places that the handle may be turned into the position indicated in Fig. 1, when its axis is in the same plane as are the several sections of the wire, and half of the handle is surrounded by the wire as shown in that gure.

The button 2 is turned out of wood and has the top portion 20, broad enough to afford a suitable support for the melon, and a short neck or hub 21 with the flange 22 on the lower end, between which and the top 20 a groove is formed. A hole 23 is made through the button, and a slot 24 is cut through the hub, the base of the slot being even with the under side of the top.

To apply the carrier to a melon the wire is first thrust through the melon and turned by means of the handle until the spiral 13 is screwed into the melon as indicated in Fig. 2, then the button is placed on the wire with its top close to the under side of the melon, the wire passing through the hole 23 in the button, and the wire is bent sidewise in the slot 24, and afterward around the hub of the button in the groove 21, as shown particularlyin Fig. 3. The melon is thus held so that it may be safely and easily carried by the handle, which is then turned at right angles to the plane of the sections formed by the bends in the wire above described, as appears by Fig. 2. The spiral 13 prevents the wire from wearing away or cutting the rind of the melon around the hole through which the wire passes.

When these carriers are packed in boxes or packages for market, the handles are arranged as shown in Fig. 1,` and in that way the packages are made of good shape, so that they may be conveniently handled and piled together.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A melon-carrier composed of the wire, the handle permanently attached to the wire, and a button adapted to be secured against the under side of the melon by the wire bent upon the button, substantially as described.

2. A melon-carrier composed of the wire,

the handle permanently attached to the Wire, and the button having the top portion 2O with the hole 23 extending through it, the groove 2l extending around the button behind the top portion, and the transverse slot 24 in the back of the button, substan tially as described.

3. A melon-carrier composed of the Wire having the spiral 13, the handle permanently attached to the Wire, and a button adapted to be secured against the under side of the melon by the Wire bent upon the button, substantially as described.

4. A melon-carrier composed of the Wire bent practically in the form of the parallelogram 10, 11 and 12 and then around itself, the handle fixed on the Wire and adapted to rest lengthwise in the space thus surrounded by the wire, and the button adapted to` be secured against the under side of the melon by the wire bent on the button, substantially as described.

5. A melon-carrier composed of the wire bent practically in the form of the paral1olosurrounded by the wire, the button having the top portion 2O with the hole 23 extending through it, the groove 2l extending around the button behind the top portion, and the transverse slot 24 in the back of the button, substantially as described.

MARZY J. VARD.

In presence of- WM. H. HrrT, R. F. SULLIVAN. 

